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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. field — for sport
  3. foot — a measure
  4. sharp — clever
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. cap — a hat
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. field — a subject
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. field — farmland
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. capital — a city
  20. cap — of ice
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. capital — money
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — a container

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com